Exponents

Students learn that 2^4 can be read as "2 to the 4th" or "2 to the 4th power". The 2 is the base, and the 4 is the exponent. The exponent of 4 indicates that the base of 2 is multiplied 4 times. In other words, 2^4 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2. And 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16. So 2^4 = 16. 2^4 is called exponential form, 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 is called expanded form, and 16 is called standard notation.